Chips from the workbench?

It is easy to recognise greatness in major masterpieces.  But sometimes I think that the real place to look for it is in minor works that slip from the composer's workbenches.  Sometimes these are pieces written to earn money, sometimes as a piece for a special occasion and sometimes just to give a composer a bit of breathing space between major projects.    

In many ways it is easier to achieve greatness on a vast canvas - but it takes a special form of genius to achieve it in a brief piece lasting only a couple of minutes.  One of the real masters of this was, in my view, Stravinsky.  If you look through his list of  compositions there are all sorts of minor "odds and ends" scattered through the catalogue.  Almost without exception these miniatures encapsulate the genius of Stravinsky in a few deft strokes.   You only need to hear the opening notes of a piece like the Circus Polka or the Scherzo alla Russe to be instantly transported into Stravinsky's world.   I've played a good few of these pieces over the years and always enjoy doing so.  One I haven't played but would love to is the Greetings Prelude






You know from the very first notes that it couldn't be by anybody except Stravinsky - indeed it sounds so much like "real"  Stravinsky that you begin to suspect that the tune we all know ...and love ... is a simplified version of the Greetings Prelude!


Was there ever another composer who left quite so many tiny fragments of musical genius?

Judith Weir

Delighted to see that Judith Weir has been appointed Master of the Queens music.  Let's hope that she turns out to be an Edward Elgar and not a Nicholas Staggins! (No, I had never heard of him either).

I've been lucky enough to play a couple of piece by Weir: her song cycle Natural History and the orchestral piece The Welcome Arrival of Rain.   The latter in particular made a very strong impression right from the first notes I heard at the read through.  She had a fabulous ear for orchestral sonority and a beautifully crafted sense of imagination.   I feel that she carries on the tradition of Michael Tippet - especially late pieces such as the 5th quartet and the triple concerto  - and via Tippett to the Stravinsky of Agon.


I heard a broadcast of A night at the Chinese Opera when it was first performed and remember enjoying it, though truth to tell I can't remember that much about it.  Time to catch up with it again I think